Captain Swan
by purlnsquee94
Summary: AU set in The Enchanted Forest; The Evil Queen was bluffing. Regina never intended to invoke the Dark Curse, only to abduct and corrupt the product of Snow and Charming's True Love, but nothing went according to her plan. (Tentatively rated TEEN. If that changes, it will be noted before the chapter begins and a summary will be included at the beginning of the next chapter.)
1. Captain Swan

The captain's heels clicked back and forth across the deck as the other ship came closer.

"I told you that was a bad idea," the officer said. "We can't outrun them with that stupid thing."

The captain stopped pacing and glared at the offending officer, a toddler smacking into her legs as soon as her heels stopped clicking.

"Get over it or get off my ship, Mr. Morgan. Over half of the people it's protecting are your family, and if you don't want to leave them behind I suggest you get over it." The captain knelt to pick up her own child. "I told you before you joined that the non-combatants' safety was my first priority and no one is making you stay."

She looked out at her crew. "First mate!" she shouted above the din of battle preparations.

"Aye, Captain Swan?" he said from behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, readjusting her son's position on her hip. "Are they all safe?"

"Yes, ma'am. They're below deck, just waiting on you and Henry."

"Waiting on me? I showed Cook how to seal the door." Henry giggled and reached for her red cloth mask to pull it off her face. She caught his chubby little toddler hand and kissed his fingers. "No, sweetheart. Leave it be."

"Alas, captain, none of _us_ ," he gestured to the crew, "would know what to do with a three-year-old. He'd for sure grow up a scoundrel."

Captain Swan scoffed. "Ye of little faith. I'm not going to die today." She spun on her heel toward her cabin door. "I'm too young; I've got a lifetime of sailing ahead of me." She flew down the stairs and ducked under the low door into the captain's cabin—her cabin—and side-stepped the cradle bolted to the floor before the window seat. Cook was just poking her head through the narrow entry beneath the bench.

"Captain!" She sighed in relief. "Here, pass Henry to me and we'll close it up after you get down here."

The captain passed her son to the cook who was so proud of her skills that they were her name, but she laughed so that her son might not shed the tears she could see in his eyes. "What kind of captain, pirate or otherwise, abandons her crew to fight without her?"

"One with a child who needs her, Swan," Cook said. "Please!"

Swan smiled. "I'll be fine. Take care of him. I love you, Henry." And she waved her hand, sealing off her son's wails and the magical safe room that existed beneath her quarters. "I promise I'll come back, my love."

Captain Swan took a deep breath and turned to leave the cabin. Her ship, her crew—her home and family—were being threatened. She wouldn't stand by and lose either as she had the parents she'd never known and the husband she'd never married. She pulled the chain that held her golden ring of straw from around her neck and stuffed it into her pocket as she threw open the door and flew back to the helm. She wouldn't part with Baelfire's last gift, but it wouldn't do to let someone strangle her with it.

"How long, Sam?" she asked as he stepped aside, giving her the wheel.

"Impending doom is impending," he said.

The captain groaned. "That would be why we call it 'impending doom,' so answer my question."

The first mate smirked. "Any minute now, captain. Why can't you conjure a breeze so we can lose them?"

"Because I would screw up the weather patterns." She glanced in the way of their pursuers. "And they're too close. They'd benefit from it, too, and catch us that much faster."

"She _can't_ do it is what she means," Mr. Morgan said. "Some Light practitioner you are, captain."

" _Light_ ," she emphasized. "I don't _do_ magic if it means hurting other people, in this case causing a _hurricane_ out of season. Now would you like to lead the charge, Mr. Morgan?"

"No, thank you, ma'am."

"Then shut the hell up."

The first mate snickered.

"Not the time, Sam."

"We wouldn't give you so much grief if you answered that kind of question with a demonstration."

"That would be Dark Magic. And cause a hurricane."

"He wouldn't take nearly as much wind to blow overboard as _The Dark Swan_ would require outrunning the navy."

"Didn't you see the sharks?"

"Your point?"

"He has a family." Captain Swan turned to ship. "Hoist the sails! Fire the cannons!"

Her crew got a few good shots in before they were boarded. The protection spell she'd set along the ship's rail did its job, neutralizing any projectile weaponry that passed through. She'd heard nasty rumors about portable cannons and thought it best for her crew if her bow was the only ranged weapon that could be fired on her deck, and sure enough the trousers of several invaders combusted as the gunpowder was prematurely ignited, causing their owners to fall screaming into the sea. Swan regretted the necessity, but she wasn't skilled enough to maintain an impenetrable barrier until the navy men got bored and left them alone. She could only maintain this one for a half hour if she was lucky.

"Captain!" a sailor squeaked as he knocked her to the deck. She saw the sword just in time to latch onto her protector and pull him out of harm's way as well. _God, he's just a kid._

"Get moving!" she yelled as she rolled off him and behind their assailant. She drew her dagger as she rose and hit the man on the head with her hilt, smiling without amusement as he crumpled to her deck. She turned, looking for the funny hat the other captain was surely wearing. In her experience captains always wore them, especially in the navy. It was that same assumption on someone else's part that had ended Baelfire's life, and she hadn't worn any hat since then.

"Princess Emma!" the captain of the navy vessel shouted from the other deck like a coward. "Hand over the princess or the queen will sink this ship!"

Swan rolled her eyes and jumped into the fray, incapacitating invaders where she could, killing them where she couldn't.

The idiot captain of the queen's navy was still yelling for the princess as the last of his crew fell dead or unconscious.

Captain Swan waved her hand, willing her barrier to block the screaming from the other ship as well as gunpowder. "Search for survivors," she yelled to her crew, bending to follow her own orders. "Bind anyone who isn't ours, help whoever you can. You know the drill!

"Master Silver!"

"Ma'am!"

"Pick a couple lads and prepare the dead… Do you know who?"

"Maybe a couple of ours…Mr. Morgan is dead."

"Damn."

"I'm sorry, Captain."

"It isn't your fault, Thomas… I'm going to go get my son…"

Captain Swan strode back to her cabin. The secret door opened just as she entered and before she knew it there was a three-year-old clinging to her knees like he'd never let go.

"Henry," she crooned. "Baby, it's alright. I'm here now. You're safe." She knelt to lift him and held him in her arms.

"Mommy," he cried again and again. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"

"Shh," she soothed as she walked over to the entrance to the safe room and knocked lightly with her boot. Cook probably hadn't realized Henry had escaped. His own abilities were developing far more rapidly than Swan had expected. She was going to have to find a way to disable them until he learned control—he was much too young to know Light from Dark.

She kept kicking the panel. "It's safe. You can all come out now."

She was still kicking the panel as the other children filed past her and the other three women squeezed out. Two of them were skilled at field dressings, but one of them was newly a widow.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"We have some wounded. Cook, stay here with the children. Greta, get going. Frieda…I'm so sorry."

The woman's face crumpled. "You don't mean—"

Swan reached out a hand to Frieda's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I don't know what happened. I just know he's gone."

Frieda fell to her knees and two of the kids sat next to her, unsure of what had just happened. She had another on the way.

"You can stay aboard as long as you like. I'll take you wherever you want, as soon as you ask it of me."

"Thank you, Swan," Frieda sobbed.

"Excuse me," the captain said, bolting with Henry before she could fall apart as well. She couldn't afford to yet.

The dead were separated from the injured and unconscious by the time she returned. Thomas was carrying out his duty and looked the worse for wear. She'd make sure he was alright as soon as she could, though she was thankful to see that against all odds only _one_ of the dead was hers.

 _She's going to pay._

"Captain Swan," Sam said as he touched her shoulder. "I know this is the last thing you want to do, but that coward is going to board if you don't drop that barrier."

She sighed and did as her first mate requested, and she could see the exact moment when the sound hit the coward again.

"Hand over the princess, you villains! I've been tracking this ship for three years and you will return her to me!"

Swan kissed her son before readjusting mask that hid her face. She sauntered over to the railing and sprawled across it with her son on her lap, snuggling into her and still crying. "Who did you say you're looking for, captain?"

His face reddened with rage. "Princess Emma! The daughter of queen Regina and heir to the throne!"

She looked around at her crew. "Does anybody know a lass who goes by that name, gentlemen?"

"No, captain," Sam said, not bothering to hide his smirk.

"Oy! Captain Coward, what's she look like?"

"Be careful, Swan," Sam said. "He looks close to an aneurism."

"How dare you? Princess Emma is a charming young girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and a royal aura!"

Captain Swan rolled her eyes. "Of course he'd call me charming," she muttered. "You lost me at 'royal aura,' my lord. I'm but a lowly sailor; I had no idea a princess would be royal!"

Her crew guffawed and the man across the gap turned purple, looking that much closer to his death.

"See here, young lady—"

"The fact remains, Professor Plum, that there are no daughters of Queen Regina aboard my vessel, kidnapped or otherwise. I'd recommend you collect your crew and retrace your steps, except you damaged my vessel and my crew for _nothing_. There are fourteen dead sailors staining my deck and one of them is mine. I don't know about yours, but _mine_ has a family! I expect reparations for damages and for his widow. Then and only then may you and your men leave us in peace."

The navy coward's mouth worked but no words were forthcoming.

"Oh, I know! I'm so generous and forgiving. They don't call me the most merciful pirate on the high seas to be ironic, you know. They call me Captain Swan; I ought to be Captain Dove.

"Bring me what gold your survivors won't need for the journey home and we'll call it square."

The other captain promptly fell over, blue in the face.

"Sam, send someone to check on him; I do hope I didn't kill him. Collect enough for Frieda to live on for a while when she chooses to leave. If they don't have enough, I'll make up the difference."

"You hated the man, captain."

"But I adore his wife, and I'll see to it she's taken care of."

Sam inclined his head. "Yes, milady."

Swan sat up and held her son tighter, stroking his hair. "I've been telling you for four years to stop that. How many more times must I say it?"

"At least once more, Captain."

Swan rolled her eyes. "I don't care anymore, just don't do it with anyone around. I'm going to take Henry back inside. He's seen enough of this messiness."

Henry clung to his mother as they waded through the post-battle mayhem. His head was buried in her chest so firmly that she knew he couldn't have seen anything. She would never admit it to her first mate, but _she_ had seen enough of this messiness.


	2. Princess Pirate

Captain Swan sat in the window seat of her cabin aboard The Dark Swan and watched the sea disappear behind her ship, rolling gently, waves barely big enough to crest and crash. It was a rare, unguarded moment where her masks—figurative and literal—were set aside and she just was.

The door opened and her hand shot out for the literal mask—none of the crew had seen her face in years. Some of the newer crew members assumed she was hiding a face covered in scars.

"Mom, it's just me," Henry said as she shut the door behind him.

Captain Swan smiled and let the cloth slip through her fingers and off the bench. "Good evening, pumpkin. All's well?"

Henry scurried across the cabin and around his cradle to sit with his mother. "Yes. Sam asked me to tell you that the night watches are all covered and you don't have to worry about it."

"I told him—"

"He said you'd say that," Henry said, grinning. "He also said he didn't care because unlike every other sailor aboard The Dark Swan, you have a seven-year-old."

Captain Swan huffed. "You know, he only uses you as an excuse to make me rest when he catches me sneezing. I'm not sick!"

Henry laughed. "He also said you'd say that." He nudged his old cradle with his foot. "So, Mom? You already told me I'm not getting any brothers or sisters, so why do we still have this?"

Captain Swan smiled at her son. "We still have it because it's bolted to the floor. I can't exactly have that many holes in the floor, can I?"

"But you could move your desk over here."

"And then there would be holes in the floor by your bed, Henry."

"But your lamp wouldn't keep me up at night."

Captain Swan sighed and blew a blond curl out of her face. "I'm sorry. Take my bed next time."

Henry grinned.

"Was there anything else Sam asked you to tell me?"

Just then there was a single wrap on the door before it opened. The captain dove for her mask in the floor and tugged it out of from under Henry's foot.

"Just that he'd be here soon for the heading," Henry said glumly.

The captain snorted as she rose with her back to her first mate to tie the mask around her face. "Nice try, kid."

"Sorry, Uncle Sam," Henry said, looking down at his worn-out leather boots. "I tried."

Sam was grimacing when she turned around.

"Henry?" she asked. "Would you go ask Cook about dinner for me please? I'm starving."

Henry shot out the door. "Okay, Mom!" He loved going to see Cook. She always gave him something sweet, which was why he wasn't allowed to just stay down there. The Dark Swan was small for a pirate ship and the crew had begged for the limitation after his last sugar rush.

"Swan, I swear I didn't ask him—"

"I know. It's just…he doesn't understand why the other kids he's met have two parents and he only has one—even Frieda's remarried and has been for as long as he can remember. I think he thinks that I wear the mask so that I won't have men falling in love with me, thus keeping him from getting a new father. Apparently he wants you for the job, never mind that you're the closest I've ever had to a father, too." She walked over to her desk and sat, toying with one of her many paper weights. It was a cast of Henry's footprints in the sand. She was sure that no other pirate captain would have anything like it and she guarded it jealously, not that they would want it for any other reason than that.

"You mean that isn't why you wear it?" Sam asked.

Swan put her head in her hands. "Don't mess with me, first mate. You know exactly why I wear it."

Sam raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, but you may want to explain it to your son."

"I don't want to talk about this right now." She pulled out her most relevant sea chart. "Henry said you wanted to confirm our heading. The weather has been fairly consistent and we've remained on course, which is a minor miracle given the way Henry loves to play at the helm. Keep the current heading and we should arrive in time for a late lunch in the tavern, give Cook the afternoon off."

"Aye, ma'am," he said and paused. "Captain?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not sure if you remember the sails we saw cresting the horizon this morning?"

"What of them?"

"They fly no flag."

Captain Swan groaned. Other pirates on the sea were beginning to hate her and the crew of The Dark Swan as much as the evil queen did.

"Maybe we should lay low for a while, winter early," Swan mused. "We've had enough success since our last vacation that everyone should have enough to live on for a while, surely."

"I seem to recall a young lad begging for a sword and his overprotective mother promising to teach him the next time we made port."

"On second thought, I think we could outrun them. You may have noticed the modifications I've made to the safe room. It's much lighter; we're not nearly as low in the water as we were before."

Sam laughed. "You haven't made that many improvements. But if you lost the mask, at least they wouldn't know who you are."

"Nice try. Be content with your memories of my pretty face, Sam. You know it could be much worse for the rest of us if I removed it outside this cabin, let alone in town so close to Frieda's tavern."

"Knock knock!"

Captain Swan looked up to see Cook carrying a tray in one hand and holding Henry's in the other.

"You didn't have to bring that all the way up here, Cookie. I just wanted Henry to tell me when to come down."

"It's quite all right, Swan dear. I wanted a breath of fresh air anyway."

"Mom, did you see it?" Henry asked through a mouthful of cookie.

"Swallow, sweetheart. See what?"

Henry did as he was asked. "There's another pirate ship heading for Frieda's port. I think it's the Jolly Roger!"

Swan walked around her desk and knelt before her son, brushing the hair out of his eyes. She'd have to cut it soon. It was already starting to curl and as much as he was her little boy, he didn't appreciate being cute as much as he used to.

"Henry, you think every other pirate ship we come across is the Jolly Roger, but I've heard that Captain Hook isn't a very nice man. Why do you want to meet him so badly?

"He's been to Neverland, Mom," he said, as if it should have been obvious.

"I'm sure those are just stories." Swan, for one, didn't believe any of the nonsense she'd heard about a semi-immortal pirate with a hook for a left hand. She was certain the name had just been handed down for a few centuries, much more successfully than the more recent Dread Pirate Roberts. She'd met the original of that dynasty and had been less than impressed.

"How can you use magic but not believe in—"

Swan put her finger over his lips. "Henry, if we keep going back and forth then Cookie's delicious food is going to get cold. We don't want that, do we?"

Henry shook his head.

"That's what I thought. Go get your cup and I'll pull down the table."

The sun set behind them an hour later and Swan watched it disappear behind the water as she sipped her wine. Henry was yawning in the window seat beside her, playing with her mask in his lap.

"Mommy, will you tell me a story?"

"What story do you want to hear?"

"Tell me my favorite."

"You have a lot of favorites, pumpkin."

"Princess Pirate," Henry said.

Swan smiled. "Alright. Do you want to get in bed first?"

Henry stood with a little wobble and padded across the room, pulling off his day clothes as he went in favor of the overlarge shirt he wore for bed, the one that had belonged to his father. Swan approached just in time to lift his covers so he could climb under. She smoothed the bed clothes and sat.

"Once upon a time," she began as she brushed his hair with her fingertips. "in a land far, far way, there was a princess who lived in a castle that seemed to float on the waves. She lived there with her loving mother and her adoring grandfather. She had everything she could ever want—horses to ride, balls to dance at, cake to eat until she couldn't eat anymore—" Swan poked Henry's belly and made him giggle, "—but one day her mother said it was time for the princess to start learning magic, and that night her grandfather told the princess a secret. 'My dear, I'm sorry to have deceived you,' he said. 'My daughter isn't actually your mother. She stole your parents' crown and locked them up far away so she could turn you into a Dark witch like her, but I love you and I won't let her do it.' So her grandfather gave her a book of Light Magic and returned the stolen heart of a soldier so that the soldier could protect the princess, and together the two fled. The princess and her protector scoured the land and found nary a trace of the real king and queen, so when they had no luck on the land, they stole a ship of the false queen's navy and became pirates. Some say that when the wind is still and the moon is mirrored on the water, you can still hear the princess and her protector, calling for her parents as they search the high seas."

Henry smiled, tilting his head to the side as though he were listening for Princess Pirate. He wiggled under his blankets. "I think I hear her, Mommy. She sounds a lot like you."

Swan bent forward and kissed his forehead.

"If Princess Pirate can find her parents, do you think we can find my dad?"

"I don't know, baby," Swan whispered. "He's been missing for a long, long time. He knew you were coming. I'm sure if he could be found, then he would have found us by now."

"Do you think Princess Pirate has a kid?"

"If she's lucky—" Swan's voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "If Princess Pirate is lucky, then I bet she has a little boy just as special as you." She tapped the end of his nose before she kissed it. "I love you, Henry. Good night."

"I love you, too," he said as she dimmed the lamp and tiptoed toward the deck.


	3. Lights Out

Captain Swan smiled where she sat, balanced on the fence that corralled Frieda's livestock. Henry was playing with three of the tavern owner's four children, and Swan held the fourth in her lap, letting the baby girl giggle and coo and pull on her long and wavy blond curls. She loved making port here. The town was peaceful and her friend Frieda Morgan was so much happier, not to mention Henry was happier now that he had his old playmates back. Frieda's departure from _The Dark Swan_ had left Henry the only child.

Swan wanted to enjoy this peace while it lasted, before she started looking for more leads. She loved the sea, but more than she loved sailing, she wanted her quest to be over, She wondered how long she could keep up the charade before she had to tell Henry the truth.

"Captain," Sam said.

Swan glanced over her shoulder at him. "Can't I just be 'Swan' today? The sea is a 10-minute walk that way," she said, pointing with the arm that wasn't steadying the infant in her lap.

"Maybe so," Sam slurred slightly, "but we need to discuss our next course of action. That other ship we saw yesterday made port."

"Anyone we know?"

"The fisherman didn't say. I didn't ask."

Swan sighed. "Henry," she called. "I have to go inside. Don't run off too far."

"Okay," he yelled back, taking his turn to chase the other three children.

Swan slid off the fence and readjusted the baby in her arms. "I believe you owe me a drink, Sam."

"I'm sure I owe you something," he muttered as he led the way back inside.

Frieda was leaning against the bar as Sam held the door open for Swan, and she looked a little relieved when she saw her child. Her auburn hair was a little grayer than the last time Swan had seen her, but her eyes were framed by more laugh lines, too. "I heard there were pirates in town. I was beginning to worry."

Swan raised an eyebrow and a corner of her lip. "Excuse me?"

Frieda rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know what I mean. Swan, you're only a pirate because you pay allegiance to no crown. Neither you nor your crew would stand for pillaging or any other such dastardly deed, let alone participate."

Swan shrugged and passed the child to her mother. "But you doubt my ability to protect your

baby."

Frieda laughed. "I still remember the time you tried to spar with Thomas while feeding Henry."

Swan's cheeks reddened. "Seventeen-year-olds are always a bit idiotic. My having a newborn didn't exempt me." She blew a lock of hair forcefully from her face. "If anything it proves that point."

Frieda's smile became just a little sadder. "You weren't idiotic, dear. You were in love."

"And if I hadn't been, maybe he'd still be alive.

"Sam, I believe you said we needed to discuss our next step. Did you have any suggestions?"

"Two ales, Frieda," he said.

"Of course." She placed her baby in a basket out of sight and poured two frothy mugs.

"Thank you," Swan said, taking one and heading for a table out of the way. They were by no means the only customers present, and she wanted to at least preserve the illusion of privacy. It was the only thing she preferred about her cabin aboard _The Dark Swan_.

"I think we should lay low here," Sam said as he sat and took a big gulp of his drink. "If we just—"

The door opened and yet more of Frieda's dinner crowd poured in.

"If we just keep our headss down and blend in," Sam said more quietly, the slur in his speech much more pronounced now, "then they sshouldn't bother uss."

Swan glanced at her own drink and nudged it slightly to the side. "You don't think it's a little obvious who we are?" she asked, gesturing to towards her face and the much smaller but more detailed mask that tied around but not over her head.

"You could always take it off. Only Henry, Cook, and I would know it was you, and the rest of us are much less recognizable."

"No."

"Swan, _no one_ is going to be looking for you this far out."

"That's exactly where you're wrong," she hissed. "She has eyes everywhere. You of all people should know that."

Sam shook his head and took another big gulp.

"How many of those have you had already?"

"Doessn't matter," he slurred, reaching for her face. "Take it off, Em—"

Just as Swan was reaching up to intercept him, another hand shot out and punched Sam right in the mouth.

"I believe the lady said 'no,' mate."

Sam sprawled backwards off his bench and landed with a dull thud.

"Oh no," Swan said as she sprang around the table. She knelt beside her fallen friend and found him unconscious. She checked his mouth and thankfully he still had all his teeth. She didn't much feel like saving him from choking on them in that moment.

"Is everything all right, luv? You weren't playing hard-to-get, were you?"

"No, I wasn't. I was just about to knock the sense back in his head, but you knocked the lights _out_! He's my first mate."

"Oh dear… Well, since he's out I'm sure I could pick up where he left off."

"Not like that," Swan snapped, turning to look at the stranger for the first time, and she could see the exact moment he realized who she was as he studied the beaded leather mask that framed her eyes and hid her face. His bluest eyes widened and his chiseled chin dropped just a little. "Besides, that ship sailed about eight years ago." She looked back to Sam. "I suppose he was too drunk to be of any help tonight, anyway."

"You're—"

"Captain Swan," she said, rising and offering her hand. "I'm captain of the—"

" _The Dark Swan_ , aye?" he said, eyebrows rising as he shook her hand. "I must say, I've heard a great many rumors about you. I thought they were joking about the mask. Have you a first name, lass?"

"My first name is 'Captain.' And you are?"

"That can't be the name your parents gave you."

"It isn't. And you are?"

He grinned widely and swept a bow, displaying his left…

"Killian 'Hook' Jones, captain of the Jolly Roger, at your service, Ms. Swan."

"That's 'Captain'."

"Aye, but you said that was your first name, and wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to address you thus, as we've only just met?" He took her hand and brought it to his smirking lips for a kiss. "But you can call me 'Killian' if you like, luv."

"I wonder what it is you're attracted to, Jones? Is it my blond hair or the pulse in my neck?"

"Well, while I'm sure I would be much more intrigued if you were speaking to me _without_ a pulse, right now it's the mask. You know, mysterious women are so… _alluring_ ," he purred.

Swan refused to smile. She _wouldn't_ do it. "What do you want?"

He released her hand. "Would you believe me if I said I thought we could help each other?"

"I'm not sure. It would depend on what's in it for you, what's in it for me, who gets hurt, and what reasons I'm given to trust an extremist hand-me-down line of pirates?"

"Extremist what?"

Swan _did_ smile at his confusion. "The pirate Captain Hook has been at large for over three centuries. You can't honestly expect me to believe that was all you, _luv_."

"You don't believe in Neverland, do you?"

"It's just a fairytale," she said, rolling her eyes. "A pleasant dream for unloved children."

"So then you're not an orphan?"

"Why is it any of your business?"

"It isn't, but it would explain why you don't believe in Neverland."

"Tell me, Jones, how long was your last visit to Neverland, if it really exists?"

Jones touched his hook to his chin and thought. "That's a tricky question," he said. "See, time flows oddly in Neverland, or rather not at all, so perception is very unreliable… How long has

Snow White been queen?" he asked.

Swan froze.

Tavern visitors who'd been eavesdropping quieted.

Swan swallowed and took a deep breath. "Snow White hasn't worn her crown for twenty-four years."

"Bugger of a long time, then," Jones said. "I didn't think it could have been _that_ long."

"Actually…Snow White wasn't even queen for a year. Her stepmother attacked. No one has seen Snow or Charming since."

"Well, that's what's in it for you, luv."

"Excuse me?"

Killian Jones leaned forward conspiratorially. "I heard on the grapevine that you've been looking for a missing pair of royals since you took command of _The Dark Swan_ , however long ago it was. How old did you say you are, luv?"

"I didn't."

"You're a tough nut to crack aren't you?"

"He's been trying since my son started walking," she said, gesturing to her downed first mate. "Good luck."

"You don't look old enough to be a mother. How old is your boy?"

"None of your damn business! You know where Snow and Charming are?"

"Not yet, but I know where to find something that will help you break the enchantments that bind them."

"You clearly haven't done your homework, Jones. I'm a Light magic practitioner. Why would I need this trinket you speak of?"

"Because the Dark magic imprisoning your precious queen and king can only be broken by more Dark magic."

"Bargaining with the Dark One has always served me well in the past. Why should I trust a pirate

over him, when he's already kept his word?"

Swan was taken aback by the rush of hatred in Killian Jones's eyes. She almost regretted her words.

"You bargained with the crocodile? What did you promise him?"

"The only thing he couldn't just take or manipulate out of me. A drop of Light magic."

"What makes him better then a pirate? Looked at the 'Wanted' posters lately? I saw you're up for kidnapping yourself!"

Swan scoffed. "Don't believe everything you read, Jones. But on that note, I suppose you're the only pirate captain I've met in the last few years who didn't try to slit my throat before he shook my hand."

Jones was visibly trying to contain his temper. "And why did the others try to kill you? What have they got against the most _merciful_ pirate on the high seas?"

"Something about being a disgrace to my kind." Swan snorted a laugh. "If only they knew."

"What's that, luv?"

"What's in it for you?"

Killian Jones was quiet.

"Revenge, against the man who took my hand."

Swan peered at her companion, studying the set of his jaw. She _knew_ it wasn't really his hand he wanted to avenge.

"My love was taken before his time," she said, so softly that Killian Jones had to lean in to hear her. "I would have given anything to make the pain of his loss go away. I'll do whatever I can to ease yours, so long as you promise not to let your heart go Dark."

Jones rolled his eyes. "It might be too late for that, luv." But he paused and studied her eyes as she let a shadow of her own pain resurface—just a glimpse.

"How did you get past it?" he asked.

"He left me his child." Swan smirked, and the moment of understanding between them shattered. "I suppose we'll have to find a different avenue for you, Jones, unless there's something you'd like to share?"

He laughed. "I assure you, Swan, that I'd keep no such secret from you."

Swan heard bare feet slapping the floor behind her and turned just in time to be tackled by her son. Killian Jones hoisted Henry off her as she coughed.

"Run along, lad. Bother your own mother."

"He's trying to," Swan said, still coughing. She reached for her ale and sipped. "Where's the fire, Henry?"

"Mom, I'm hungry."

"Jones, put my son down before you lose the other hand."

"What happened to 'the most merciful pirate on the high seas'?" He put the boy down anyway.

Swan smiled. "That title wasn't given to me by anyone stupid enough to threaten my son."

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"What happened to Sam?"

"He was being rude. Captain Hook hit him before I could."

Henry stared at Hook, eyes wide. "You've been to Neverland?!"

Killian Jones studied the pair carefully.

"Where'd your son learn to believe in Neverland, Swan?"

She blew hair out of her face. "I have absolutely no idea."

"Why are you talking to my mom?" Henry asked.

"A business venture," Jones replied with a smile. "How 'bout it, Swan? It's just a day's hike from here. You'd be back within three."

"Henry, go tell Frieda what you want to eat and make it two."

Henry grinned at his mother and ran to the counter.

"How does this help with your revenge, Jones?"

"Oh, it's simple. The crocodile wants it. I'm going to get it before he does. _Then_ , I'm going to bloody give it away."

"Will your revenge be complete?"

"Not by far, but it'll be enough to make him come to me. And then it _will_ be."

Swan pursed her lips. "You're sure that's what you want?"

"Aye."


	4. Trinket

**This is the last chapter that I have readily available and already written. I started working on this fic last summer, but then my senior year of college hit and I have barely done anything since then on this story, so it will be a bit before I can post any more given I have to find my notes that is the mess of my moving back home. I know that a lot of the particulars about this AU haven't been addressed, but it will happen all in good time. I've been mulling over this story for the better part of a year, so I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimers that technically should have been at the beginning of chapter 1: I do not own OUAT or any of the characters portrayed except for a few OC's among Captain Swan's crew. Please let me know what you think, especially concerning whether or not Henry a actually sounds the age(es) he is presented as. Thank you and enjoy!**

Killian "Hook" Jones couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, alone in the wilderness with one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen—

But she wasn't going to let her guard down _or_ remove that blasted mask. He could see her bottomless green eyes and the stubborn line of her jaw, but he _really_ wanted to see her whole face, not just in pieces. The mask created a disconnection between reality and the personage of Captain Swan. If he wasn't looking at her he couldn't quite recall the color of her eyes or the luster of her golden curls or that dimple in her smile; they were just out of reach.

He supposed that was probably the whole point.

"So tell me, luv," he said. "Why do you wear that mask?"

"Why does anyone wear mask and use an obviously fake name? To protect my anonymity."

"And why would you need to protect it, luv?"

Swan very deliberately stepped in front of Killian, forcing him to stop, and rolled her eyes in an incredibly exaggerated fashion.

"If I answer that question then what's the point in wearing the mask?"

"I promise I won't tell a soul, luv."

Swan rolled her eyes again and began walking backwards.

"I'm afraid that neither my son nor my crew know that secret. Why do you think I should trust you over them?" she asked. Just before the heel of her boot caught on a root.

Killian smirked as he lunged forward and caught her, his left arm far enough around her so as not to impale her on his hook, meaning she was way too close, not that Killian would ever admit it.

"Because unlike your precious boy and you merciful crew, I can take care of myself. And you," he said, mesmerized by her eyes.

He thought she was caught too until she cleared her throat. "Thank you, Jones. Now if you'd be so kind as to help me upright or drop me so I can do it myself?"

Killian's lone hand moved as if of its own accord to brush the hair from her forehead. He rolled with it.

"What's your hurry, luv?"

He raised her up as though he'd dipped her in a waltz and brought her closer so he could stare into her eyes.

"My hurry," she said, grinding her teeth and taking a step back, "is that my son is waiting for me back at Frieda's . This is already the longest I've ever been away from him."

Killian raised an eyebrow. "He's eight-years-old, Swan. It's not like he needs to be nursed."

"Seven. And that isn't the point, Jones. His father is _dead_. He thinks he had to leave on an important journey and I can't bear to take away Henry's hope that he'll come back someday. But what if something happens to me and he thinks I've abandoned him, too?"

"Are you sure this isn't about you not wanting to be abandoned, luv?"

Swan slapped him so hard her hand stung.

"Ooh, buy me dinner first, lass."

"You'd better stop or I won't help you avenge her," Swan snapped. She turned on her heel and ran in the direction they'd been going.

Killian shook his head and followed after her at his own pace. She'd eventually tire and wait for him, especially in that heavy leather coat.

He didn't know what had come over him. He knew that Swan wasn't going to budge and most of him respected that. Her loss was _much_ more recent than his, and he no longer had Milah's child running around to remind him of her with every smile. He wanted to respect Swan's mourning, he really did, but there was that moronic part of his brain that just took over whenever he looked into her eyes.

Killian sighed and started jogging to catch up with Swan. It was the most ridiculous thing, but his heart had started aching the moment he'd lost sight of her.

He'd been jogging for some time when he finally caught the sight of Swan again. She was sitting with her back against a tree and her head between her knees. Her long red leather coat fanned out beneath her but was open. Killian could have seen her attire for the first time if not for her sitting in a fetal position.

"Swan? Are you alright?"

She huffed and a hand disappeared, probably to wipe away evidence, before she looked up at him.

"Never better," she said with puffy eyes. "So what's this trinket we're after?"

Killian noticed how deliberately she avoided meeting his gaze now. He sighed and offered her a hand up, which she took. "Well, luv, it isn't a 'trinket,' as you keep calling it. It's a potion. One drop can neutralize any Dark magic short of a sleeping curse. In return for guiding you to it I only ask that you allow me the use of one drop on the Crocodile."

"The Crocodile is the Dark One," Swan said. Killian had avoided making that connection but he hadn't expected her to remain in the dark for long. He nodded.

"Are you going to kill him when you've neutralized his magic?"

"Very painfully," Killian confirmed. "I'm going to rip out his heart the way he did hers, except I won't do it the easy way, with magic. No. I'm going to rip him open with my hook and let him bleed out on the deck of the Jolly Roger, in the same spot she fell when her heart was crushed to ash."

"Is it worth darkening your heart?"

"Why do you care of I darken my heart, Swan?"

She stared at her brown leather boots and trousers. Killian studied the pattern of her blue vest.

"For one thing, even if you neutralize the Dark One's magic you'll still become the next Dark One after you kill him. Do you really want to become the thing you hate?"

"I won't become what he is."

"No one ever thinks they'll go as Dark as they do."

"Aye? Well what makes you an expert?"

Swan resumed their trek and said nothing for a long time. Killian assumed she wasn't going to answer and was casting around for a lighter topic of conversation when she spoke.

"When I was younger, I loved someone very dearly, someone who went dark for revenge and never came back. I've since lost everything. That's how I became a pirate."

"Who did you lose?"

Swan hesitated, still avoiding the gaze of Killian Jones.

"I _thought_ she was my mother," she said. "Lovely weather we're having."

Killian fought to withhold his sigh. "Yes. Lovely."

They reached their destination by dusk. Swan was certain it had to be a mistake or a joke.

"This is it? You can't be serious."

"I am."

"It's a cave. What do you need me for?"

"It's guarded by a Light magic barrier, Swan," he said.

She shook her head, gesturing to the cave's entrance. "I can sense your potion from here, but there is no Light magic nearby except my own."

"Maybe it's just being overshadowed by the Dark magic," Killian said. He stepped in front of Swan and took her chin in his hand, gently enough that he wouldn't hurt her though he left room for neither wiggling nor avoiding his eyes.

The moment their eyes met, Killian gave a cocky grin and ran the smooth curve of his hook along her cheek.

"I promise I didn't bring you out here just to get you alone, luv."

Swan tore her gaze from his the only way she could. She closed them. "I know you didn't. Can we get this over with so I can get back to my son?"

Killian had been leaning into her personal space but froze when Swan closed her eyes. "What's wrong with me," he murmured.

He was startled to see the single tear that rolled down her cheek. He took a step back and pretended not to notice. "Shall we go in now or would you like to eat first?"

"Let's just get this over with," she said, her voice as steady and cold as the distant moon.

He nodded before he remembered that her eyes were closed. "After you, Captain Swan."

Swan kept her eyes on the ground as she walked past Killian to the mouth of the cave where she stopped abruptly.

"This has to be the wrong place, Jones."

Killian couldn't miss the note of panic in her voice.

"We should go."

"I promise this is the right place," he said. He stood behind her now. He wanted to hold her, to massage the tension from her shoulders, but he only put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly. "It'll be all right, luv." And he stepped around her despite her protests.

"Jones, there _was_ a Light magic barrier here. It's been taken down, I sense a great presence of Dark magic. We should _leave_."

"How could that be?" Killian asked, turning around in the cave's mouth. "I looked everywhere for Light practitioners and you're it, luv… What did you say you gave the crocodile in that deal?"

"Her first joyful tear as a mother, dearie."

Killian and Swan both turned to look into the cave's interior.

"It's among the most powerful of Light magics," said the Dark One. "Right next to True Love's Kiss."


End file.
